You Never Tell a Girl that You Like Her
by Kurisutiina-chan
Summary: "You never tell a girl that you like her – it just makes you look like an idiot, Sasuke." In which Uchiha Sasuke is head over heels in love and Haruno Sakura is oblivious. Non-massacre. SasuSaku.


Authoress' Notes: So my hard drive crashed recently, and when I was looking through my recovered documents I found this lovely little thing that I wrote last year. It is sugar and spice and everything nice and fluffy, and I decided to post it since I haven't been able to work on my other stories like I've wanted to. I hope you guys enjoy it. It's based off a very amusing line from A Very Potter Sequel.

Disclaimer: I own Naruto in my dreams...but only there.

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><p><em> "You never tell a girl that you like her – it just makes you look like an idiot, Sasuke." <em>

- Uchiha Shisui

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><p>"Uchiha Sasuke! You are an insufferable, arrogant jerk! What right do you think you have to interfere with my life?"<p>

Sasuke could only watch as Haruno Sakura's face turned redder and redder in anger when he didn't answer her. He couldn't help but think that in spite of the fact that her face was starting to resemble the tomatoes he loved so much, she was still beautiful.

"Well?" she demanded, her arms crossed over her chest, her fingers gripping her feminine biceps in what he guessed was her attempt to keep herself from launching herself across the small space that separated them and hitting him. He was probably right. After all, she had done just that the last time this had happened.

"Obviously you have no answer because you have no right! No right at all! So stay out of my business!" she yelled, turning on her heel and storming off in the direction of the hospital without another word or a glance backwards.

When Sakura was out of sight, Sasuke turned and punched one of the trees next to him, leaving an impression of his fist in the trunk.

Kami, she was so infuriating.

It wasn't his fault that she never understood why he "interfered" as she put it, just as much as it wasn't his fault that she was always on his mind, and had been for years now. It was all her fault. Always her fault.

The first time he had payed her any attention was when she had been assigned to his genin team with the loud mouthed dobe, Uzumaki Naruto. Back then, she had a crush on him, and had trailed after him like a puppy. In spite of that, somehow she had grown on him. A year or so later though, she had confessed to him that she was in love with him and he had politely rejected her. She wasn't so annoying anymore and at that point he had considered her a friend, but he hadn't felt the same way. After that, they had remained teammates and friends, and surprisingly, she had gotten over it rather quickly. And then a few more years had passed.

During that time, Sakura had really caught Sasuke's attention. He had watched as she had gotten up the courage to ask the new Godaime Hokage to train her, and then as she had suffered through the intense training, developing a new arsenal of medical jutsu and insanely powerful chakra based strength as a result – as well as her mentor's temper. He had watched as she had become a chunin, and then a jounin, in just as timely a fashion as Naruto and himself. He had watched as she had grown physically as well, becoming a beautiful woman, tall and fit with curves in all the right places and a face that could melt the coldest heart.

And over those years he...

He had fallen for her.

Hard.

Why couldn't Sakura see that? She was the only girl he could ever envision himself with in the future. For him, there was no one else, no other option. It was Sakura or nothing.

"What happened this time?" a loud voiced interrupted him before he could pull his fist back and punch another innocent tree in a pathetic attempt to vent his frustration.

He didn't bother to answer, but that didn't deter the source of the annoying voice.

"Did you scare off another guy?" it asked.

Sasuke turned his head to shoot Naruto a withering look, even though what the blond boy had said was true. Sasuke had done just as Naruto had hinted, but in his defence, the guy had not been worthy of Sakura's attention anyways. The second Sasuke had suggested to the other man that he should not see her, the man had paled and immediately agreed. It told Sasuke that the man's feelings were weak – well, that or that Uchiha Sasuke was terrifying. Either way made no difference to him since in the end he had achieved his goal and kept yet another would be suitor away from Sakura.

"I'll take that as a yes," Naruto laughed before coming to stand in front of Sasuke and turning serious. "Why don't you just tell her how you feel instead of sneaking behind her back like this?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. There was a good reason he hadn't told Sakura of his feelings for her. First, he had already rejected her years ago and since then it seemed like she no longer had any interest in him that way, so it was likely that she would turn him down. Yes, Uchiha Sasuke was afraid of rejection, especially from one Haruno Sakura, the only girl for him. And he had another reason too.

"Because, dobe," Sasuke began in all seriousness, "you never tell a girl that you like her – it just makes you look like an idiot."

Naruto looked at Sasuke as if he were crazy.

"Who the hell told you that?" Naruto demanded, utterly dumbfounded by the answer Sasuke had given him. And everyone thought that Naruto was the idiot of team seven!

"Shisui," Sasuke answered simply.

Naruto wanted to literally smack some sense into his best friend, but he refrained, knowing it would probably just piss Sasuke off.

"And what does Shisui know? Has _he_ ever had a girlfriend?" Naruto prodded Sasuke further instead, willing for his best friend to see the idiocy of Shisui's statement.

In that, Sasuke had to admit that Naruto had a point. In all the years he had known Shisui – which would be his entire life since Shisui was his older cousin – Sasuke had never once seen the man with a girlfriend. That didn't mean that Shisui's imparted wisdom was wrong, however. Sasuke couldn't imagine telling Sakura that he had feelings for her without somehow looking like an idiot in the process, especially given their history. And Uchiha's did not make themselves out to be idiots in front of anyone.

When Sasuke didn't answer him, Naruto groaned in frustration.

"So what are you going to do?" Naruto continued trying to make his friend see reason. "Keep scaring off Sakura-chan's dates until she decides she's in love with you? Cause it seems to me like all you're managing to do in the process is piss her off."

This was also true.

Unable and unwilling to tell Sakura how he felt, Sasuke had resorted to scaring off all of Sakura's potential suitors in the meantime – which was nearly a full time job in itself because there were a lot of them that he had to worry about now that Sakura was older. She was a talented and beautiful girl, smart, kind to everyone, apprentice to the Hokage, and was being groomed to take over the hospital when she turned eighteen in a few months. She was a catch by anyone's standards, violent temper and all.

And she really didn't appreciate Sasuke meddling in her affairs. She hadn't realized at first why all of the young men who asked her out always cancelled. Then a couple of months ago, Sakura had learned that Sasuke was the one responsible, and after that, each time it happened, she would get angry. Very angry. And yet she always forgave him, even though he never apologized. This time however, things didn't look to be in the Uchiha's favour. She had looked more mad than he had ever seen her when she had walked away from him just minutes ago.

"Just tell her for the sake of _my_ sanity," Naruto insisted before inviting Sasuke to spar.

Both of them were currently standing in the third training ground where they had undergone their first team exercise at twelve years old and where today they were supposed to have a group training session with their old teacher, Hatake Kakashi, explaining why Naruto had been a witness to Sakura's angry speech. Sasuke thought that a spar would be a much better way to vent his frustration than punching trees, but before Sasuke and Naruto could start fighting, Kakashi chose to appear before them, surprisingly close to on time.

"Yo," he greeted his two male students, casting his one exposed eye around, clearly looking for their only female member. "Where's Sakura? She's never late."

Sasuke turned away with a huff while Naruto frowned at Kakashi.

"The baka here scared off another guy yesterday," Naruto explained, shooting Sasuke a glare. He was getting very irritated with Sasuke's way of handling the situation with Sakura – which wasn't really handling the situation at all given the results of the Uchiha's ventures.

"Oh," Kakashi replied simply.

Naruto took that as his cue to continue his rant.

"Mmhmm. And Sasuke also thinks that if he keeps scaring guys away from Sakura-chan that he won't have to tell her he likes her," Naruto continued his explanation, his exasperation with Sasuke only growing. "Cause apparently 'you never tell a girl that you like her - it just makes you look like an idiot.'" Naruto made sure to surround Shisui's apparent words with exaggerated air quotes.

Kakashi looked expectantly at Sasuke, clearly hoping for some sort of elaboration. Sasuke was not forthcoming.

"Who told you that?" Kakashi finally asked his moody student, wanting to hear more of the situation.

"Shisui," Naruto responded for Sasuke, knowing fully well that the Uchiha wouldn't reply.

Kakashi nodded in sad understanding before turning his full attention once again to Sasuke.

"Now, Sasuke. Clearly you are not getting advice from the right source," Kakashi began, and Naruto began to excitedly nod along in the background, happy that at least Kakashi saw sense. But that was when Kakashi extracted a very familiar orange book from his pocket and offered it to Sasuke. Naruto stopped nodding his head and bit back a groan. "The man always needs to tell the woman that he loves her or nothing will happen. She'll end up marrying the wrong guy and the poor bastard who couldn't admit his feelings ends up alone regretting his cowardice for the rest of his life. It's all in here," Kakashi finished, thrusting the book under Sasuke's nose.

Sasuke shot their perverted teacher a glare before turning on his heel and heading away from his teammates. This was getting ridiculous. How he chose to act around Sakura was entirely up to him. And even if he wanted advice, he would not solicit it from Naruto, who still hadn't realized that Hyuuga Hinata was in love with him, or Kakashi, who read those...books – could they even be called that?

"Where are you going?" Naruto called out after him.

Sasuke didn't reply. Not because he didn't know where he was going, but because it wasn't any of their business. Still, as annoying as their words were, they had made him think. He did need advice on how to deal with this situation with Sakura, since what he was doing clearly wasn't working. But from someone who wasn't a complete and total moron. He was going home. He could always count on family for an intelligent response.

* * *

><p>Uchiha Itachi sat in the kitchen with his mother sipping tea and enjoying a rare day off. Or at least he was until he sensed his brother approaching the house. That was odd given that his brother was currently supposed to be training with his old genin team. Immediately, Itachi knew that his peaceful morning was about to be interrupted. He was not disappointed.<p>

Seconds later, Sasuke was throwing open the front door and kicking off his shoes, pausing only to arrange them neatly in the front hall and shut the door behind him before entering the kitchen, where he slumped down at the table looking irritated, defeated, and depressed all at once. It made for an interesting and unique facial expression.

"Why aren't you still at training, Sasuke-kun?" his mother prodded her youngest son, pouring him a cup of the tea her and her eldest child had both been sipping.

Sasuke mumbled something unintelligible under his breath that Itachi figured was supposed to be "idiotic teammates" before he spoke up so both of them could hear him clearly – Sasuke would never think of not answering their mother.

"Sakura's mad at me again," the seventeen year old Sasuke said with a heavy sigh.

Itachi actually snorted. In the last few months it had been rare to find the pretty young medic not mad at Sasuke. Ever since Sakura had learned that Sasuke was the one responsible for all her cancelled dates, she had been in a near constant state of ire, breaking out of it only to forgive Sasuke and get mad at him all over as soon as he did it again – which always happened soon enough given Sakura's popularity.

Itachi found it amusing how obviously his brother betrayed his feelings for his pink haired teammate and how she was perhaps the only one who didn't see it. Even their stoic father had noticed that Sasuke had feelings for Sakura that extended beyond those for a teammate or friend. Hell, their father had even encouraged Sasuke to just ask the girl out already – Itachi knew it was only because Fugaku thought that Sakura would be an entirely suitable bride for Sasuke, despite her lack of heritage, given the enormous prestige she held within the village.

"You ruined another date for her didn't you?" Itachi asked, knowing the answer from the set of Sasuke's shoulders and the narrowing of his younger brother's eyes before Sasuke could even open his mouth .

"He wasn't serious about her anyways. If he was, he wouldn't have let me scare him off," Sasuke replied without a hint of remorse for his actions.

Mikoto stifled a giggle with the palm of her hand.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun, the way to a girl's heart is not by ruining her chances of a relationship with someone else," Mikoto explained patiently to her son when her giggles subsided.

"Then what do I need to do?" Sasuke asked his mother, looking like a lost and confused child.

Itachi really felt bad for the kid. He was seventeen years old and had no clue how to handle the fact that he was obviously in love with one of his teammates.

"You need to tell her how you feel. Like she did when you were kids," Mikoto answered the boy as if the solution was obvious. "If she had the guts to tell you she loved you when she was thirteen, you should be able to do the same now."

Sasuke frowned.

"Kaa-san, you never tell a girl that you like her – it makes you look like an idiot," Sasuke explained.

Now it was Mikoto's turn to frown while Itachi laughed quietly to himself, recognizing Shisui's words of wisdom having heard them enough times from Shisui himself. Their older cousin was a strong influence in Sasuke's life so it was no wonder that Sasuke had taken the advice to heart.

"Who on earth told you that?" Mikoto finally asked her youngest son, sparing a glance for her eldest to see if he was the culprit. One imploring look was enough to satisfy her that this was not Itachi's fault and she continued. "Was it your father? Because if he's teaching his sons such wonderful romantic ideals it's no wonder that neither of you have had a girlfriend."

"I did not teach Sasuke such a thing, though I can't say that I disagree with the sentiment," Fugaku declared upon entering the room. His presence was not a surprise to his family. They had sensed him coming from his study to the kitchen, undoubtedly to see what all the noise was about. Mikoto took the opportunity to shoot her husband a glare which went ignored by Fugaku who continued to speak to his youngest son.

"I never told your mother how I felt. All I did was tell her that she was no longer allowed to see other men," Fugaku continued despite the fact that his wife was now openly staring fiercely at him.

"And how did that work out for you? Remember how angry I got when I heard you say that? I punched you in a very sensitive area and left you keeled over on the ground if I remember correctly," Mikoto scolded her husband before turning her attention back to Sasuke, who seemed to seriously be considering his father's suggestion. "And you, baka son of mine, don't even think of trying an approach like that with Sakura. She's got even more of a temper than me and she'll hit you a hell of a lot harder as well."

Sasuke was not an unintelligent boy and could see that his mother was completely right this time. Telling Sakura that she was not allowed to see other men, as if she were his possession, would only make her even more angry with him. Still, this conversation had yet to leave him with any useful information. He needed to make further inquiries.

"So how _did_ you end up with tou-san, kaa-san?" Sasuke asked his mother. He at least knew better than to ask his father the question.

Now, Mikoto smiled at her son while Fugaku set about pouring himself a cup of tea.

"Well after that disaster, your father managed to ask me out on a proper date and I decided to give him a chance. We dated for more than a year before he got up the courage to actually tell me that he liked me," Mikoto narrated joyfully while her husband frowned into his teacup, clearly not enjoying this story as much as his wife. "But even though he didn't say anything for months, he did show me how he felt through his actions the whole time we were dating. And you can be sure that if he hadn't shown he cared, I would have dumped his sorry ass."

"So I should ask Sakura out on a date?" Sasuke asked, this being the message he had gotten from the story. Asking Sakura on a date would not require him to tell her how he felt and it seemed to hold more promise than merely scaring off other men – since she clearly wasn't getting it when he did that. Plus, that's what his father had done and he had ended up with Mikoto so it couldn't be that bad of an idea.

Itachi laughed again when he heard his ever serious father mutter under his breath: "Isn't that what I suggested months ago? Could have avoided all this stupid trouble..."

Sasuke meanwhile resolved to go to the hospital and ask Sakura out on a date.

* * *

><p>"Everything looks good, Kiba," Sakura told her latest patient.<p>

Kiba had come back from a mission the day before, on the verge of death because of a poison he had encountered in the process of completing his task. Sakura had spent the better part of yesterday physically extracting it from his blood and his cells and then making an antidote, which she had administered to him herself yesterday evening and again this morning when she had left early from training, before it had even started in fact. It was now well into the afternoon and Kiba was doing fine. He would be able to leave in a couple of hours as long as his condition remained stable.

"Thanks, Sakura," Kiba replied with a large smile on his face, "you're amazing."

Akamaru, who sat quietly in a corner, unwilling to be separated from his friend and master even when said person was in the hospital, barked his agreement.

"Just doing my job," she said, though she smiled as well. Kiba was a nice guy. He always made her feel appreciated and took the time to compliment her when they were out with friends or ran into each other in the village. She wondered why _other guys _couldn't be more like Kiba.

No. Instead _other guys _snuck behind her back and scared away potential boyfriends before she had even had a chance to date them. _Other guys _refused to stop doing it even when she asked oh so politely for them to knock it off. _Other guys _were so infuriatingly stupid that she didn't even know what to do with them anymore!

Of course, _other guys _referred exclusively to one guy in her life – Uchiha Sasuke.

He had the ability to piss her off like no one else – not even Naruto could irritate her so much, and_ he_ was the creator of that stupid and offensive Oiroke no Jutsu that she loathed. She knew why Sasuke had such a talent for getting under her skin though.

It was all because she was still in love with the moron and had been since they were kids. When she had confessed to him at thirteen years old, he had rejected her, but still they had remained friends. And even though she was able to act normally around him from then on, she had never gotten rid of her feelings for the stupid Uchiha...

He wouldn't let her!

He just had to be all protective of her when they were out on missions. He just had to acknowledge that she had done well in her training and had improved immensely from their academy days. He just had to be someone she could always rely on. He just had to become an absolutely gorgeous looking man with a fantastic body and face. He just had to remain the stupid boy that she fell in love with in the first place – arrogant, prideful, confident and surprisingly caring.

Not that she hadn't tried to forget him.

When she had turned sixteen and the time she spent training with Tsunade had finally started to lessen, guys had started to ask her out. Knowing that Sasuke didn't like her and knowing that she needed to get over him, she would say yes, in the hopes that maybe one day, one of these guys could replace Sasuke in her heart. The only thing was, all of the guys that expressed interest in her always cancelled before they even went out and wouldn't tell her why – only that they were sorry, really sorry. It took until a few months ago for her to figure out that it was actually Sasuke who was scaring them all off.

She had gotten so angry with him that she had beaten him black and blue and refused to heal his wounds – much to the amusement of Naruto, Kakashi, Itachi and Mikoto. Fugaku was considerably less amused, but she didn't care. Here she was trying to move on and the jerk wasn't letting her have any chance of succeeding and she couldn't understand why! She had asked him to explain the reasoning behind his actions to her and he had simply replied that the guys she was intending to see weren't good enough for her. Well she had told him to stop and that it was up to her to decide if a guy was in fact right for her, but Sasuke never did, and each time it happened again, she would get mad at him once more. He never apologized, but in time, because her stupid heart was intent on betraying her rational sense, she would forgive him and their relationship would be peaceful again – until Sasuke ruined another date for her.

Kami, he was exasperating!

"You go above and beyond your job all the time, Sakura," Kiba pointed out, dragging Sakura back to reality. "I mean you're doing a nurse's job right now. You didn't have to come check on me, but you care too much for your patients to leave them alone."

"Kiba, how could I not check on a friend who's a patient in my hospital?" Sakura asked him, casting a final glance at Kiba's chart. "That would just make me a terrible person."

"Yeah, yeah," Kiba waved off her response, "look at it that way why don't you. Doesn't change the fact that you are amazing."

"Oh, shut up," Sakura laughed, placing Kiba's chart back at the end of his bed. "Anyways, you should be good to leave in a few hours, so just take it easy until someone comes to let you go."

That's when Sakura made to leave the room, but Kiba's voice stopped her.

"How about tonight when I get out of here I take you to dinner to celebrate my quick recovery," Kiba called after her.

Sakura's heart did not want her to say yes, but she had been denying her heart for years now, so she answered with her head.

"Sure," Sakura replied, turning around and offering Kiba a dazzling smile, "we can go after I get off work. Meet me outside the hospital at seven?"

Kiba offered her a wide smile back.

"I'll see you then."

"I'm looking forward to it," she said as she finally made her exit.

Navigating through the hospital hallways on the way back to her office, Sakura wondered how good her chances of actually having her date with Kiba tonight were. First off, no one should find out about it until it was well and over since Kiba was stuck in the hospital until this evening and she wasn't planning on telling anyone. Secondly, even if Sasuke did learn that she was going out with Kiba, Kiba was a good friend of their's and she didn't think that Sasuke would actually attempt to scare the Inuzuka off. Right? And even if he did try, she doubted that Kiba would give in as easily as the guys who hadn't attended school and gone on missions with Sasuke. Or so she hoped.

Sakura sighed as she got onto the elevator.

Kami, this was all Sasuke's fault. He really just needed a good punch in the face. It would make her feel better anyways.

Her irritation only grew as she got closer to her office and realized that there was someone waiting for her there. Someone with a very familiar chakra signature. She slammed her office door open and glared at the offending presence with as much anger as she could muster.

"Get out," she demanded coldly.

Sasuke didn't make any move towards the door however. He kept his position leaning against her desk, watching her as though she were a wild animal, likely to attack. Not entirely a stupid assumption. Her blood was boiling just from looking at him. She was still so mad that he kept interfering in her life. What right did he have to decide who she dated? He had given up that right a long time ago when he had said that he didn't feel the same way about her.

"Get out," she repeated.

Sasuke straightened but made no move to leave the room.

"I need to talk to you, Sakura," he told her.

"To be frank, I don't want to hear anything you have to say," she told him, taking off her lab coat and moving to her closet to put it away. "Now leave. I have work to do."

"You're not really mad at me, Sakura. That guy wasn't worth your time," Sasuke said as he finally moved from his spot in front of the desk to come stand behind her. "Besides, you weren't serious about him."

"How do you know?" Sakura demanded, whirling around to poke Sasuke in the chest with her finger. It didn't matter to her that what he said was true.

He flinched and she knew she had left behind a bruise, but he didn't answer her question.

"Just forget about him. We're going out for dinner tonight," he told her.

Sakura was momentarily caught off guard.

"I didn't realize we had made plans for a team seven dinner tonight. Did you guys decide that this morning?" she asked Sasuke.

She couldn't see that the back of Sasuke's neck was turning red as he answered her question.

"Not the team. You and me. We're going out."

Sakura's breath caught in her throat as she tried to process what she had just heard. She was sure she was going crazy. Had Uchiha Sasuke just asked her out on a date? No. That was impossible. Wasn't it?

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked.

"You and I are going out for dinner tonight. Alone. Just the two of us," he said slowly, enunciating each word.

Okay. It really sounded like Sasuke was asking her out on a date. Sakura's breath returned to her and her heart started beating double time. Oh kami how part of her wanted to say yes, but just what the hell was going on here? Sasuke had never expressed any interest in her and now he was pretty much demanding that she go out with him?

That was about when another part of her started to get really angry. Just who the hell did Sasuke think he was? First he went about ruining any chance she had for a date and now he was _ordering_ her to spend time with him? The least he could do was ask her! Seriously, what was wrong with him? What made him think that he could control her life like this? He was a fucking asshole!

She answered him with one word: "No."

Now it was Sasuke's turn to be stunned.

"Excuse me?" he asked her.

"I said no, you idiot!" she bit out. "Anyways, I already have plans for tonight."

What? She already had plans? So soon after he had chased away the last guy? He held back a frustrated growl. Why was it so hard for her to see that he cared about her? Why did she have to keep agreeing to see those losers? They weren't worthy of even an iota of her attention.

"With who?" he demanded of her.

Sakura merely glared at him.

"It's none of your business," she hissed, "so if you would please leave now so I could get my work done before my date tonight, I would really appreciate it."

Sasuke had no intention of leaving, but Sakura took his silence as an opportunity to shove hard against his chest and push him out of the room, slamming the door in his face and locking it. If he really wanted to, Sasuke could break the door down or climb in through the window, but he knew that would just make Sakura even more angry with him – and this time it looked like she wouldn't forgive him so easily.

He had only one choice left then until Sakura was ready to be rational. If he couldn't figure out who she was going out with before her date, he would just have to follow her while she was on it and make sure that nothing happened.

* * *

><p>Naruto sat in a tree, watching Sasuke, who was too busy watching Sakura to pay him any attention. His pink haired teammate had just met up with Kiba outside of the hospital, and Naruto could tell that Sasuke was really unhappy about it if the way he was glaring at the Inuzuka with Sharingan eyes was any indication. Kami, Sasuke was an idiot. This would never have happened if he had only had the guts to tell Sakura how he felt months ago.<p>

The air beside Naruto stirred and Naruto glanced away from Sasuke only long enough to ascertain who was next to him. As his eyes returned to his dark haired friend's back, Naruto greeted the newcomer.

"Konbanwa, Itachi."

"Naruto," Itachi returned, his eyes also on Sasuke. "So the baka didn't ask her out then I take it."

"No, he did. Sort of," Naruto explained. "I don't think Sakura-chan realized that was what he was doing though. She told me how he ambushed her in her office today and pretty much demanded that she go to dinner with him, and then how he got angry with her when she told him that she already had plans."

Itachi laughed.

"That sounds like the way he would go about it."

"Yeah, well because he screwed up again Sakura-chan's even more mad at him and he's acting even more pissy than usual," Naruto replied. "Bah."

Meanwhile, Sasuke – unaware of his brother and best friend at his back thanks to his single minded focus – was silently fuming as he watched Sakura laugh at something Kiba had told her. He hadn't been able to figure out who Sakura was seeing until it was already too late, and now he could do nothing but watch from afar as she had a seemingly good time with the Inuzuka mutt and his dog.

Sasuke stalked the three of them as they went for dinner at a decent café and then for a walk through the park before Kiba finally escorted Sakura to her apartment. It was only when the two were standing outside her front door, and Sasuke could practically feel Kiba's intention to kiss Sakura goodnight, that the Uchiha couldn't stand by on the sidelines anymore. He didn't notice Naruto silently cheering or Itachi smirking behind him as he jumped down from the rooftops to land next to Sakura.

"What the hell, Sasuke?" she yelled, turning immediately to glare at him while Kiba shot him a confused look.

Sasuke ignored Sakura though, glaring at Kiba, the Sharingan swirling in his eyes. Kiba laughed nervously and gulped before excusing himself and making a rapid retreat, Akamaru right on his heels.

"Coward!" Sakura called after Kiba angrily before turning her attention back to Sasuke, coming close enough to him to poke his chest repeatedly as she spoke. "What the fuck is wrong with you, Sasuke (poke)? I was having a perfectly (poke) nice (poke) time (poke) until you came and ruined it (poke)! Kami (poke), you make me so mad (poke)!"

Sakura continued to rant at him while Sasuke's mind was working itself into overdrive, Shisui's words repeating over and over in his head: "You never tell a girl that you like her – it makes you look like an idiot, Sasuke." But this was getting to be too much for him. Things couldn't go on in this way anymore and...kami, she was so close to him. She was right there, right in front of him. He could smell the strawberry shampoo she used, he could count her eyelashes if he wanted to, he could see the sheen of the gloss on her lips...

Fuck this. If he couldn't tell her he liked her without looking like an idiot, he could sure as hell show her.

He grabbed Sakura about the waist, stunning her enough that she stopped speaking, before he brought his lips down to hers.

Sakura froze at the first signs of intimate contact. Sasuke was never one to be touchy feely, but here he was, with his hands at her waist and his lips on her lips and all she could think of was how good it felt.

Seconds later, she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her, and was satisfied when his arms fully encircled her waist, pulling her body flush against his as he deepened the kiss. Whatever anger that she had felt towards Sasuke evaporated as soon as his tongue slipped into her mouth. Kami, she could have stayed in this position forever. She probably would have if not for the snickering she heard.

Apparently Sasuke heard it too, because he pulled his lips away from her's – though to Sakura's satisfaction, he didn't let go of her waist – and turned his head towards the sound.

"Dobe," Sasuke growled under his breath.

This prompted Sakura to turn her head as well, and she caught sight of Naruto rolling around on a rooftop across the street, killing himself laughing. Itachi sat next to him, smirking. When Naruto managed to calm himself, he sat up and grinned broadly at the pair of shinobi, still wrapped in each other's arms.

"Finally!" the blond exclaimed. "I thought that you guys would never get together."

And that was when Sakura fully realized what she had just been doing. She had been making out with Sasuke – and _he_ had initiated it. _Sasuke_ had kissed _her_! And it was then that she finally realized why the hell Sasuke had been so intent on interfering with her love life. It was because he didn't _want_ her dating anyone else... And that would mean that the reason he had asked her out tonight was because he _wanted_ to go out with her...

Sakura turned her attention away from Naruto to look at Sasuke with wonder in her eyes. He liked her. He _liked_ her! And she loved him. Kami, she was kidding herself trying to date other people. She was always supposed to be with Sasuke.

"You're an idiot," she breathed out through the smile that wouldn't leave her face, the words ghosting across Sasuke's cheek.

Because he really was. Who would go about trying to let her know how they felt in this roundabout way? An idiot. That's who.

Sasuke turned his attention away from Naruto to look at her with wide uncomprehending eyes.

"What?" he asked. The word sounded garbled as if he were choking it out.

"You should have just told me you liked me," Sakura said, taking her hands from the back of his neck to cup his face and stare into his confused eyes. "I mean, keeping me from dating other people? Especially when you knew how angry it made me? You're an idiot. But at least you're my idiot."

Naruto burst out laughing and when Sakura turned her head to look at him, she could see tears rolling down his cheeks. A quick glance at Itachi revealed that he too was laughing out loud – kami, the world was ending. Of course she didn't know that their laughter was all because she had effectively proven Shisui's words, which Sasuke had held in the highest esteem, wrong.

Still, when Sakura turned back to Sasuke to see the oddest look on his face – a mixture of confusion, anger, and relief – it made her burst out laughing as well. Since Sasuke had yet to let go of her, she buried her face into his chest and swung her arms back around his neck to support herself.

While Sakura was having her laughing fit into his chest, Sasuke was silently resolving to give Shisui a piece of his mind for giving him such terrible advice. Based on what Sakura had told him and how she had responded to his kiss – better than he would have dreamed! –, if he had just come out and told her how he felt, he could have avoided months of stress and unhappiness. And here she was thinking him an idiot for everything he_ had_ done instead.

For now though, it didn't matter. What mattered was that she was finally in his arms and she was reciprocating his feelings. Sasuke turned to Naruto and Itachi and shot them a glare that clearly said get lost. Itachi took off immediately but Naruto laughed a little more, wiping tears from his eyes before he winked and took off.

Sasuke was alone with a now giggling Sakura. Eventually her giggles died down and she pulled her face out of his chest to look back up at him. He was watching her, waiting for her attention. He still had something to say.

"I'm sorry," he told her when he was sure she was focussed on him. "I'm sorry for...being an idiot."

He had the pleasure of watching Sakura's face positively light up before she tangled her hands in his hair and tugged his lips down to her's, kissing him hungrily. He was more than happy to return the sentiment.

* * *

><p>It was a few weeks later that Sakura sat at the Uchiha's kitchen table with Mikoto, Fugaku, Itachi, and Sasuke after her first Uchiha family dinner. They were all drinking tea while the two women chatted amicably, Sasuke watching proudly as his family accepted Sakura into their fold.<p>

During dinner Mikoto had fawned over Sakura like the daughter she had never had – she absolutely adored the girl. Itachi had spent the meal drawing Sakura into amusing debates – he got along very well with her and had mentioned to Sasuke that he had long considered her a sister. What was perhaps the most satisfying thing he had seen that evening though, was his father simply watching Sakura with approval and respect in his eyes – a few days ago, Tsunade had officially announced that she would be turning the hospital over to Sakura on the pinkette's eighteenth birthday, and Fugaku had finally realized how amazing the girl his son was dating really was.

Life was good. No, life was perfect.

The front door of the house banged open and a loud voice echoed through the hallways.

"Oba-san? Oji-san? Kaa-chan wants to know if you're coming for dinner tomorrow."

Shisui came around the corner into the kitchen, having left his shoes at the front door. It was the first time Sasuke had seen his cousin since the day he and Sakura had finally gotten together, and he couldn't keep the scowl from coming to his face – when he had finally explained the reason for his behaviour to Sakura, she had scolded him for his idiocy. He didn't think to blame himself however, he blamed Shisui.

In contrast to Sasuke, Shisui's face brightened as he took in the scene before him.

"Sasuke-kun finally got himself a girlfriend," Shisui cheered, taking a seat at the table next to Itachi and forgetting to listen for Mikoto's answer to his inquiry.

"Yeah, no thanks to you," Itachi muttered to his cousin who frowned in response.

"What did I do?" Shisui asked, looking genuinely confused.

"I want to talk to you about some advice you gave Sasuke-kun," Sakura answered him, her eyes narrowing.

"What advice?" Shisui asked, his eyes widening, looking to Sasuke for help. But Sasuke just sat there, his good mood coming back as he watched that vein in his girlfriend's forehead pulse – the one that meant bad things were coming for the poor unfortunate soul who had irritated her.

"The advice that you never tell a girl that you like her since it apparently makes you look like an idiot," Sakura explained slowly, her words promising pain.

Shisui gulped.

"It's true though, Sakura-chan. I mean–"

"You better hope I don't see you around town, Shisui," Sakura interrupted him, cracking her knuckles.

Shisui immediately stood, sparing only one glance for Mikoto who smiled as happily as ever and said, "Tell your mother that we will be coming for dinner tomorrow, dear," before he ran from the house, leaving his shoes behind in his haste.

"You know what? I sort of love you, Sakura," Sasuke told her, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. Surprisingly, it wasn't the first time he had said it since they had started dating, and it surely wouldn't be the last.

"And you know what? You don't look like an idiot, Sasuke-kun," Sakura replied, squeezing his hand.

* * *

><p>Authoress' Notes: Well, I thought it was cute.<p> 


End file.
